I debated whether to share my experience, wondering if it would add value, but I guess if it could help anyone, especially low jumpers like myself, then it's a good thing. There are quite a few things I did wrong, but I'm glad I am able to be here to share it, so I won't hide it. The scenario: winds gusty to 25 mph early - I decided to wait until they died down. Checked the winds right before I went up, and they were only gusting up to 15 mph - awesome. Normal canopy opening and descent - set up for final. At approx 300 ft, was being blown backward. Decided on alternate landing field and did 180 to go downwind a bit to get to the "smoother" looking part of the alternate landing field. Prepared for final on alternate - was being blown backwards again, this time over obstacles (pallets of mulch on concrete) and much lower AGL. Keep on descending, of course, and realize that I am not going to be able to clear the obstacles, I am descending right over them, still going backwards, and if I don't do something, I'm going to hit them. At approx 50 ft, decide to turn (less than 180, but more than 90 degrees) to take the downwind landing instead of hitting an obstacle while going backwards, because there was still another grassy area behind the obstacles. Did a decent enough PLF and ended up with a bruised knee. I am VERY lucky. Contributing factors: 1. I do not jump often enough 2. I thought my wing loading was 1.0. I discovered today that it is .86. I have lost weight and did not consider how it impacted my wing loading (current weight with gear, 130, on a 150 canopy). 3. I usually watch one load land and check where people are starting their final before I jump. I did not pay attention to that yesterday, and ended up starting my final way too far from where I should have. Personal lessons learned: 1. I need to jump more. From now on, I will, no matter what. I will not let other factors deter me, because this is important. 2. I need to focus on landing emergencies just as much as a I focus on canopy malfunctions. From now on, I will. 3. I practice flat turns while under canopy, but I did not do a flat turn when the emergency situation arose. I believe for me, that has to come from doing the "what if" scenarios in my head and physically going through the motions of an emergency flat turn. Practicing a nice leisurely flat turn at 2000 ft is very different from making a split second decision when very low. From now on, I will practice emergency flat turns while above 1000 ft. 4. My wing loading is low, but that is okay. I am not ready to downsize, but I DO need to keep it under consideration and factor it in my decision making. Before when I was loaded at 1.0, I did not have problems of being blown backwards unless the winds were gusting well over 15 mph, and never had I been blown so far as I was yesterday. If I had been jumping more, I would be more familiar with how my canopy handles. From now on, I am jumping with weights. Should I have made the low turn? Yes, I believe for me that was the better option in this particular situation. If not for the obstacles, I would have taken the backward landing. But I still feel that I just got lucky. Honestly, I think it could have gone either way - I could have hit the obstacles and got really hurt or killed, or I could have taken the low turn and got really hurt or killed. So I hope this helps someone think and plan for a similar situation. Don't just think about what you'll do if you're blown back a few feet, but hundreds of feet.
